i'm going to play her love interest in "the good wife." this ended so happily for me. sfrz second hour. the air was bloiing me back against the vehicle, and went into the shell lot and immediately upon getting in the shell lot it was probably about 100 yards out. tick tock, three days until super tuesday. >> don't look at me. look in the mirror. >> tonight it's all about the washington caucuses. tsunami on tape. incredible new images out of japan like you've never before. why there could be thousands

more like these to come. that and more right here right now on cnn. good evening, everyone. i'm don lemon. tonight he'll meet some of the people behind images of destruction that you won't soon shake. you'll hear amazing stories of survival from americans who through quick thinking or divine intervention live to see another day. we begin in henryville, indiana one of the hardest-hit communities. if you're this close, run to the safest place or it could be the last thing you see. lucky the i-reporter who shot this video did survive. >> [ bleep ]. we got to get in the house. that was [ bleep ]. look at that. holy -- my god. my friend lives right over there, too. oh, god. come on, nick.

that is nuts. [ bleep ]. >> same town, same storm, but a different man who has to duck into a gas station for cover. a fiercesome sight of a swirling mass closeby tearing up the landscape. he says he was driving when the massive twister started bearing down. he barely got off the road in time and picked the right place to hold up. >> the vehicles on 160 were turned over in front of us. we saw the marathon station across the street completely leveled. nothing left of it. it then kept moving to the east, and then you could tell it hit the school with all of the t turbulence. >> life in henryville, indiana may never be the same, and you can say that about so many communities in the path of these extreme storms. at least 37 people have died, 14 in indiana. we've learned that the tornado that hit henryville was an ef-4. that means sustained winds of up

to 200 miles per hour. we're talking nascar speeds here. that's what we're talking about. it cut a path 52 miles long, and it was as wide as one and a half football fields. the damage, of course, is catastrophic. about 180 miles away from henryville, another town is oblig rated, west liberty, kentucky. it blew right through the heart of the small town. winds were as high as 165 miles per hour, and it seems no building was spared. the roofs are peeled off some. oers were instantly blasted to the ground. kentucky got some of the worst of it, 18 people died there. let's meet some of the brave people of henryville now. one police officer called the town complete destruction, and there a twist he were not only took away a family's home, it took a father, a dad. susan candiotti has that story. >> reporter: don, here in clark county, indianas in the town of henryville only one person

didn't surgical vive th didn't survive that killer tornado, he's 64-year-old wayne hunter. this is the hilltop home they bltd to raise their family more than 40 years ago. this is how it looks now. flattened, p blown to bits by a tornado. those front steps once led to their front door. now they lead to heartache. how would you like your dad to be remembered? >> he was a really good guy. he loved nature and people. he loved his family. he loved this community. >> reporter: hunter and his wife couldn't resist shooting video of the twister heading their way and then ran for cover inside. >> they were in the safest sfot in the house. it was the very middle of the house. there's no windows. they shut the doors, and they covered up with a blanket. >> reporter: but not safe this time. they were found about 30 feet apart. wayne hunter was dead. his beloved wife lenora still alive. >> they went into a back room

and just held onto each oh covered each other up. knowing them, they said a few prayers. >> reporter: hunter was a former volunteer firefighter and recently retired emergency room nurse. those who knew him say he really believed laughter was the best medicine. >> he'd be able to put a smile on everybody's face right now with all the demolition going on here. >> reporter: what do you think he'd make of all this? >> he'd be taking pictures and posted them on facebook. >> and making a lot of jokes. >> making a lot of jokes. >> reporter: now the hard part. trying to save pieces of their home, of their life, and trying to understand why. >> the whole randomness of a tornado is amazing. they hit one house is destroyed and one house isn't, one person dice a dies and one doesn't. i don't know you can understand that. >> reporter: yet for family and friends of wayne hunter, just because they avoided this twister's path doesn't mean they weren't touched by what it took

away. mrs. hunter is expected to make a full recovery. her family credits neighbors for saving her life. don. >> all right, susan. thank you very much. each time there is a disaster of this nature, there's always at least one surgicvival story tha grips us. a 20-month-old girl was nound in a field near henryville miles from the home. she's in critical condition at a children's hospital in louisville, kentucky. a hospital spokes woman says her parents, and aa 2-month-old sister and a 3-year-old brother were killed in the storm. it's not known how she wound up alone in the field. her extended family is now with her at the hospital. the storms killed 18 people in kentucky where the governor declared a state of emergency. with the storm racing towards them, some of the people of west liberty, kentucky looked to a higher power for help. >> take this a way from us,

lord. >> that's going to be big. >> take it away from us, lord. take it, lord. take it, lord. take it away from us, jesus. >> this woman was praying and speaking in tongues, and her prayers were answered. her mom, her home i should say was spared, but much of the town wasn't as lucky. cnn's jim spellman is surveying the damage in west liberty for us. jim. >> reporter: don, take a look at some of the destruction this storm brought with it when it rolled through west liberty, kentucky on friday. right up the street here where you see the vehicles going, this is the main part of town on lockdown right now. earlier today i took a firsthand look. this is west liberty, kentucky, hit hard by friday night's tornadoes. this is the mobile command center they set up here. this town is on lockdown right now as they focus on search and rescue. here's why they need that command center. this until last night, friday night, was the police department. this right here is a police car that was flipped on its side. you can just see here this

destruction as this tornado tore through here. it was friday night right around dusk, around 7:00 when this tornado came through. some buildings like this one completely leveled. you can just see piles of bricks. you can see here the spray paint here from agencies that have been searching, establishing that there's nobody trapped in here. that's the focus right now, is search and rescue here. it's painstaking work to go from building to building and dig through all the crevices and voids. the state police here tell us that with communications down, cell fophone towers down, very hard to establish cell phone connections or internet connections. it's hard to know exactly who may be still stuck here, so they have to do these house by house, building by building searches. some of these buildings made it a little bit better. you can see here windows blown out. others are destroyed like we showed you. on the other side of the street, you'll see the courthouse. this was sort of the town center right here on main street. it's just really devastating

that this tornado went right through the heart of this small town here in kentucky. really the worst possible path for such a destructive storm. >> don, we have received word that the search and rescue part of operation is over. they found no people trapped nlsd any of the buildings in west liberty. that's really good news. the next part is cleanup. they have to remove all of this debris throughout the town, and then they have to get new electricity run in here before they can start rebuilding and get some of these people back into their homes. don. >> jim spellman, thank you for your reporting. to find out more to help those affected by the severe weather go to cnn.com/impact. up next, just three days before super tuesday, washington state holds its republican presidential caucuses. who gains momentum into tuesday? a live report from seattle is next. president obama and the black vote. is it still a sure thing this time around? that's straight ahead. or... we make it pink ! with these 4g lte tablets,

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will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. cnn projects a new win for mitt romney in today's washington state caucuses just three days before the all-important super tuesday contest. with more than 60% of the votes counted, romney has 37% to congressman ron paul and rick santorum's 24%. it's a big boost for romney battling to boost his lead in the delegate count. washington is a disappointment for ron paul, who focused a lot of time and energy on the state and may have little to show for

it. cnn political reporter shannon travis is it in seattle tonight where paul had planned what he hoped would be a victory rally, but listen, 24%, that's not so bad. he came in dead even with rick santorum. he didn't win. it's not a bad showing, though, shannon. is this a missed opportunity for ron paul? >> reporter: it is a missed opportunity. you're exactly right what you just said, don. 24% is not a bad showing, but it's wanot the showing the ron paul campaign wants to get. they want to win in these contests. dr. paul has said publicly himself, we're focusing our strategy on caucus dates. there's not a lot of money to spend in advertising. it's neighbor and neighbor and husband and wife and families getting together all supporting, and arguably dr. paul has the most as i've been following him for the the past few months, the most, the biggest crowd sizes. the problem for him is he hasn't translate all of the hundreds of people coming out en masse to

his events to actual votes. i've talked to him about it. the campaign is frustrated by it. dr. paul says we're still winning because we win on delegates. listen to what he said about that tonight. >> we're in a good second place. .go the good news is we're doing very, very well in getting delegates. >> so, don, it's true they are racking up delegates, but it's their trailing versus mitt romney and the others. the question is, if you rack up those delegates, what do you do with them if you don't actually win the nomination it's something that ron paul and his campaign advisers have to think about. >> let's look ahead on to super tuesday. tell us why it's such a big deal with this election cycle. nothing is decided yet. everybody is in limbo here. >> that's right. it's a huge deal.

normally you know typically super tuesday, the nominee is kin of decided by then not so much in this case. 4919 delegates at stake, about 37% of the total delegates you need to win the actual nomination. so it's a big deal, ten states holding their, you know, contests, primaries, caucuses or bhaefr which is why you see rick santorum barnstorming across ohio. that's a crown jewel for whoever wins there. romney is obviously there too. it's a big deal because there's so in delegates at stake. again, super tuesday historically is like an afterthought, but this year this time it's huge. >> digging the glasses there, shannon travis. i have to borrow them. thank you, sir. appreciate it. >> reporter: taking after you. >> cnn is the only place to be on super tuesday starting with a special edition of "john king usa" 6:00 eastern on cnn. complete coverage in all ten states and the state contests at

7:00 eastern. will african-americans turn out in large numbers in november for president obama like they did in 2008? is it a sure thing had this time around? that's next. [ laura ] maine is known for its lighthouses, rocky shore, and most importantly, its lobster. it's the tastiest, the sweetest, the freshest.

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black voters turned out in historic numbers it to vote for president obama in 2008. many going to the polls for the first time. with african-americans hit hard by the economy, can the obama campaign energize these voters again? here's cnn's suzanne malveaux. >> reporter: donnell scott has a framed newspaper story on his wall about president obama when he won the 2008 election. >> i wanted to capture this for my family because it was so historical. >> reporter: this year he's not sure he wants to vote for obama again. >> these next few months are going to be the telltale sign of me making that decision. >> reporter: african-americans have been hit hard by the economy with black unemployment at 13.6%, almost double the rate

of whites. >> at times i've held almost three or four different jobs at one time. when you have a family that you're trying on to support, you do whatever it takes, no matter the odds. >> reporter: in 2008 african-americans went to the polls in record numbers. 96% of african-americans who voted voted for president obama. some people in the black community feeling a sense of disappointment now, the question is, can the president hold onto the black vote? former obama policy adviser and now dnc head patrick gaspar thinks he can. >> african-americans have been disproportionately faekt disproportionately affected by the recession. we've seen 3.7 million jobs growing in the private sector alone, and there is a sense that we're beginning to turn this around. >> reporter: representative maxine waters is one of the toughest critics for not doing enough for black unemployment. even so, she says republican

aattacks on president obama will help energize blacks to vote. >> since the republican candidates have taken to the air with these debates, they have tried to undermine the president in so many ways. they have strengthened the resolve of african-americans to re-elect this president. >> we've got to decide what kind of country we want to be. >> reporter: last month the obama campaign launched african-american for obama to generate support in black communities. at a barber shop in atlanta, opinions were mixed on whether or not to strovote for the prest in november. >> he's going to have to become very convincing to the minorities right now. >> it's going to sound like the same story over again. they're still waiting or change. >> i think he's done a ton with the cards he's dealt. i think four more years would do him, us, and the country well. >> suzanne malveaux reporting. coming up next -- the syrian

military goes after civilians, but it's not just civilians. army soldiers also turn their guns on some of the their own. that is right after the break. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share

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news now overseas, a new twist in the horror occurring every day in syria. army soldiers are turning their guns on some of their fellow soldiers. p

>> as the relentless shelling continues in homs, a shearian army commander got word of soldiers who planned to defect. 47 were immediately executed, their bodies dumped in a lake. the opposition activist says one neighborhood of homs is facing its own massacre. >> the government is now inside preparing to do something that no one knows what's going on. the situation is very bad, because we're in the military's own area. no one can exit. no one can go out. we have 6,000 to 10,000 people. why they prevent them to leave at the moment because they are preparing the massacre. they are arresting hundreds of people. >> snipers are a constant danger

in homs and the humanitarian crisis worsening every day. two victims of the violence in syria began their slow and final trips home today. the red crescent handed over the bodies of american reporter marie colvin and the french photographer. who diplomats in damascus died during the shelling in homs. the doctors positively identified them. russian voters are casting ballots this weekend that are expected to make prime minister vladimir putin president once again. p if he wins he serves an unprecedented third term. they hope to get enough votes to force a runoff. he served as president from 2000 to 2008. iran's government says more than 60% of voters took part in the pa larmentary election. they said the vote was a great slap in the dirty and hateful

face of the west. the main reformist party boycotted the election to protest the repression they say they faced since 2009. that year the government cracked down on the opposition after the re-election of president mahmoud ahmadinejad. next, the first of three funerals for victims of monday's high school shooting rampage in ohio. that and more of your top stories straight ahead. everybody wants more financial control, but it's not always easy. at regions, we have the tools and expertise to really help you find your balance. like the freedom to access and monitor your accounts

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the top stories now.

watch this incredible crash out of arizona. this helicopter was following a speeding car while filming a tv show. the man who filmed this footage says he turned the camera off right after the crash. he didn't want to film dead pilots, he says, but the pilots survived. in fact, unbelievably they climbed on you of the wreckage and walked away from the crash. the grief in chardon, ohio overwhelmed the small community today for the first of three funerals. they buried 16-year-old daniel pametor, more than 1,000 people turned out for his funeral mass. bp is paying dearly for this. for weeks on end we watched oil gushing into the gulf after the bp oil rig disaster. nearly two years later bp has settled agreeing to pay nearly $8 billion to businesses and individuals damaged by the

spill. that's not the end of it. the government still has claims for violating clean water and oil pollution laws. bp has already paid out $22 billion, most of it to cover the cleanup. the manhunt for a killer is intensifying tonight. pittsburgh police say an armored car, a driver allegedly murdered his partner and then took off with $2 million in cash. police recovered the trung with the body inside yesterday. investigators called 22-year-old kenneth kornias armed and dangerous. the armored car company is offering a reward of up to $100,000. gunmen suddenly opened fire on a crowd of people outside a nightclub in tempe, arizona late last night. the patrons were waiting to see a rap concert. 14 people were wounded, 2 seriously. police arrested a suspect today and are looking for two others. they say it appears to be gang-related. at least 37 people were

killed in those storms that ripped through the midwest and south, and man, it was tearing a lot of places apart. it will take years for some communities to be put back to together. sandra endo is in one of those towns. >> reporter: with daylight came reality. >> the only thing left is the back porch. >> reporter: returning to the places where their homes once stood, still haunted by what they saw friday. a fierce severe weather outbreak barrelled across much of the united states from texas to indiana into kentucky and georgia. some 17 million people were in the deadly path. >> you could hear people praying just please let us get through this. >> reporter: in the hours after the terror came stories of survival. >> i had about 40 students and staff. we were in the core of the building when the tornado hit. everyone was safe. no one was injured. >> reporter: something to be thankful for despite the

devastation. entire neighborhoods are flattened. schools are in ruins. but spirits are strong. >> we've got a lot of good friends. we still got our family. what more can we ask for. >> the fact of the matter is people that live here are resilient, god-fearing. they're tough. and we're not knocked down, but we're not knocked out. >> reporter: in hard-hit henryville, indiana, crews spent much of the day combing debris in hopes of finding survivors. in west liberty, kentucky, equipment is already in place to clear away what the storms knocked down. just two examples of towns small in population but big in their determination to come back from this disaster. >> staandra endo reporting. jacqui jeras is here to break it down. >> it's really a ripe situation for tornadoes to develop and will occur, and it's a little bit early in the season to see some of this.

we want to put this whole event in perspective for you here, don. this map really details what we saw this week in terms of how many states were affects and how widespread this was. those states that you see there, that's 14 states that have had tornado reports including damage, including fatalities. that was including wednesday, so it just wasn't yesterday. this includes wednesday's event as well. all the red dots you see on the maps, those are preliminary reports with major damage, meaning it was like an ef-3 tornado or they were fatalities included in some of the big areas we were talking about. harveyville into kansas, harrisburg here in illinois. we had our henryville, indiana tornado and our west liberty one. we saw major damage in tennessee, alabama and into georgia. now, yesterday alone there were more than 100 reports of tornadoes. when we talk about those conditions that are ripe, what happens is we get cold, dry air coming in from the north. very warm, moist air coming in

from the south. at different levels of the atmosphere the winds move in different directions, and that's what's helps provide that so all the ingredients cause the atmosphere to explode throughout the day yesterday. we got these long-lived super cells that stayed on the ground for a very long period of time. i've had a lot of questions today, because the last time we had such a big outbreak was april of last year, right? let's put this in perspective. how does yesterday compare with the outbreak in april of 2011, the 27th and 28th? well, the number of tornadoes we had yesterday, this is just preliminary, but it was about half of what they saw april 27th and 28th. so this is a map from noaa, the national weather service showing 303 tornado warnings yesterday. the april tornado outbreak, 688. so that's about twice as many. now, what about how often we see tornadoes break out this frequently in the month of march? this is a map that shows you how many we see on average by month

from the storm prediction center. for march you see the number around 92. the preliminary reports from yesterday are 100, but that's going to change very likely as they continue to survey all that damage. but all said and done, i got a message from greg car vin at the storm prediction center there, and he tells us, don, that this outbreak not just in march but the number of tornadoes since january 1 will put us in the top 10% to 20% of busiest starts to the severe weather season since records began. this certainly was a huge event that we've been dealing with. like you said, months, years probably before some of these people are able to recover completely and rebuild. >> my goodness. we're thinking about them, and we hope they can get back to some degree of normalcy soon. a reminder for you, if you want to help out g-to cnn.com/impact. cnn.com/impact. all the organizations and tools

are there to help. up next, we'll talk law and punishment. could the rutgers university student accused of spying on the roommate be charged with a hate crime by prosecutors? to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance.

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let's talk law and justice now. our first story from this dorm, former rutgers student dharun ravi secretly streamed video of his roommate kissing another man. tyler clementi killed himself shortly after finding out about it. on the right is ravi, who is on trial facing 15 counts in clementi's death. on the left, the man who was with clementi on the video, his

identity is being kept secret. earlier i asked criminal defense attorney holly hughes if prosecutors have a real challenge charging this as a hate crime? >> i don't think they're going to get there. when we charge a hate crime, basically we ask the jury to look into the mind of the defendant and sashgs y he commi this particular crime because he has a bias again a group of people n-this particular xas against homosexual. >> i've heard in the questioning, did he say to you that he had a problem with clementi? no, but that was my impression. so he did not say it. >> we've heard a lot of testimony that he has other friends who are gay, and he said, you know, i'm just a little uncomfortable having a roommate who is gay. it's not necessarily a bias against all gay people. this isn't where we see a lot of hate crime is when you talk about, say, a neo-nazi and you go back and there's literature in their room that says i hate this and they belong to a group

that is absolutely out there and saying things like that. >> what about him -- he wasn't trying to videotape his straight friends? doesn't that say anything? >> here's the question then, don. first of all, what he did is deplorable and he's charged with invasion of privacy. i think that's a slam dunk for the prous cushion as it should be. what happened to tyler clementi is a horrible tragedy. when we talk about in a court of law bringing it up to that level, i'm not sure if we'll get there. >> a mother in missouri said she was tired of a drug dealer trying to get her son hooked on heroine again. she clubbed him twice with a baseball bat. >> they came to my house. they came to my work looking for him trying to get him to buy again when he was clean. it is the state prosecuting me for trying to protect my son. >> do you have any regrets? >> no, no. he is -- my children are my

life. they're wanting to take his life away, and i can't let that happen. >> so the state is prosecuting her. what's going on here? >> what happened was the drug dealer actually showed up at her house. they've been tracking her son down when they're trying to get him clean, and she had a baseball bat with her. the dealer reached into his car. she thought he was going for a gun. that's a reasonable assumption. so she whacked him with a baseball bat to basically defend herself. >> he's a drug dealer. don't forget that. >> the drug dealer then runs off and calls the police. the police don't arrest hemplt the police say, hey, you know what. don't assault this guy. the prosecutor then draws up an accusation and charges her with assault after this drug dealer shows up on her property and reaches for what she thinks is a weapon. i think she's got a really, really strong self-defense case here. >> a lot of people watching this are probably going, i'm on the mom's side. >> and i think the jury is going to be, too. if the state pushes this forward, there will abe defense attorney who will put up a

self-defense claim, which in the state of michigan the law says you get to defend yourself if you're think you're in imminent harm, if it's reasonable force used against you, you're allowed to do that. if they don't buy the self-defense argument, it's called jury nullification, and the jury thinks make you did do it, but we happen to agree with you and he we won't convict you no matter what the facts say. >> interesting topics this time. enjoyed it. thank you, holly hughes. thank you very much. after creating a national stir, rush limbaugh is apologizing to this woman, sandra fluke. he called her a prostitute and a slut among other insults after her testimony last week at a democratic hearing in support of insurance coverage for contraceptives. in his apology today limbaugh said he thought it was absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of congress and went on to wonder where the line will be drawn saying, quote, will we be debating if taxpayers

should pay for new sneakers for all students interested in running to keep fit? he ended finally by saying, my choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous i created a national stir. i sincerely apologize to miss fluke for the the insulting word choices. the apology comes as a growing number of advertisers abandoned limbaugh's show. legal zoom, quicken loans, sleep number beds, and the backup software company carbonite have canceled or suspended their accounts. up next, never before seen video. the tsunami that slammed through japan taking the lives of more than 15,000 people. we'll tell you why more of these images may continue to show up from the disaster.

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♪ wellu'reat aen - with he daccoun aen - with in lminu rns.com/oregula remember, it was one month -- one year ago this month when that horrible earthquake and tsunami hit japan, and japan is one of the most wired nations in the world. so what happens when something like that occurs? thousands of people start to record as they're running for their lives. again, it happened one year ago this month, and it was one of the biggest quakes in history triggering a massive tsunami. 15,000 people died. we have more on the survivors through survivors' cameras. >> reporter: the very instant

the tsunami struck ishinomaki, a young man trapped in the frigid, rushing waters clinging to a telephone wire. you're watching this entire neighborhood as its ripped apart from the victim trapped in the middle of it. capturing it all on his camera. more than 2 million people viewed this clip since it hit you tuk right after the disaster. the teenager shooting the video from his balcony. he kept recording. it was right here? when you were taping that, did you you know that you were recording history? i never thought about it, he says. i was sirchlly panicking. his video is just one of thousands on the web showing the tsunami as it happened, making it one of the most recorded disaster in history. japan is wouft most wired can

you understands in the world. mobile phone datd at that shows every single person has at least one mobile phone and in some cases two. when the tsunami came roaring ashore, thousands upon thousands captured it on personal devices. is that the real power of the personal recording device in hand? to be able to transmit that video around the world instantaneously. >> to be able to do this in near real time and to do it to audiences across the globe is unprecedented in how much power it's given the individuals. because, you know, you had all of this very real footage, it made the incident much more real in people's minds. they no longer center to imagine what a tsunami is. they saw it live. >> reporter: making japan's disaster a shared worldwide experience. he believes the amount of citizen video helped engage governments, aid groups and individuals to help and showed humanity at its best in the face of disaster.

in his case what you can't see is the most important part of his story. his video ends suddenly. he up stopped recording. the man clinging to the telephone wire, he waded out to be in the tsunami water and saved his life. cnn, ishinoma ki, japan. >> incredible images. let's look at what's coming tomorrow with fredricka whitfield. what do you have? >> the republican presidential field might be slimming down after super tuesday. one candidate that exited months ago, michele bachmann, will she's been quiet about her endorsement. is she ready to support one of the remaining candidates? michele bachmann joins me on sunday. we'll discuss politics and her position on iran as talks on that country begin in washington. join me sunday afternoon starting at 2:30 eastern right here in the cnn newsroom. >> we'll be watching. thank you very much.

coming up next, lots of concerns in the florida key about the fragile coral reefs, but not because of storms. one expert divers shows us how he's restoring marine life. meet our cnn hero after the break. with these 4g lte tablets, you can do business at lightning-fast speeds. we'll take all the strawberries, dave. you got it, kid. we have a winner. we're definitely gonna need another one. small businesses that want to grow use 4g lte technology from verizon. i wonder how she does it. that's why she's the boss. because the small business with the best technology rules. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 1-800-974-6006.

not financially. so we switched to the bargain detergent but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ] [ female announcer ] just one dose of tide original liquid helps remove food stains better than an entire 40 load bottle of the leading liquid bargain brand. that's my tide. what's yours? wow, look at that. this week's cnn hero has watched the beauty of sea disappear. he's working to bring life back

to an underwater world in crisis. meet ken niedermayer. >> i grew up diving in the florida keys, and it was just the most magical place. the coral reefs were so pretty, and i decided that's what i wanted to do for a living, is dive on coral reefs. in an area where there's live coral, there's always more fish. the reefs provide protection for our coastal areas and recreational opportunities for millions of people. i was diving for 40 years, and over time i saw those coral reefs start to die. coral reefs worldwide are in decline. if they died completely, coastal communities would be bankrupt and tourism would be virtual gli gone. a billion people in the world will be impacted. i started thinking how can we fix this problem? my name is ken neiedemayeniedem. he grow and protect coral reefs. we developed a system that's simple and something we can

train others to do. we start with a piece of coral this big and hang it on the treats. after bn a year or two it becomes this big. then we cut the branching off and do it again. >> ken's coral nursery is one of the largest in the water caribbean. it's ten times larger than the others in existence. >> in 2003 we originally planted six corals here, but now there's over 3,000 growing in this area alone. before i felt helpless watching it die. now i think there's hope. it's not too late. everybody can help. >> i see all those corals and fish. it's like this whole reef is coming back to life and making a difference is exciting. >> remember cnn heroes are all chosen from people you tell us about. to nominate someone making a difference in their community, go to cnnheroes.com. your nomination could help them help others. more of today's news right now. gas prices have jumped again.

the average price of a gallon of regular rose more than a penny and a half in the last 24 hours. it's now nearly $3.76 for a gallon, almost 30 cents more than last month. aaa says today's surge makes a 25th straight increase. players from the new orleans saints could be in trouble for a cash pool that paid players to injure opponents. investigation by the nfl found that then defensive coordinator greg williams ran that program. he now says it was a mistake. as many as 27 players funded a pool that doled out $1500 to knock out an opposing player. well, the payout was $1,000 when someone was carried off the field. the nfl says players involved could face suspensions. as much as the country begins cleaning up from the string of deadly tornadoes, what's in store for us for the next few days? jacqui jeras is here. what does it look like? >> a lot better, actually, don,

but not without complications. the storm that produced all the severe weather is still producing a lot of rain across parts of florida, georgia, and into the carolinas. you'll deal with that at least into tomorrow. but no widespread organized severe weather expected, at least not for the next three days. there is a clipper system impacting the tornado zones, however, and i wanted to mention this because this is going to bring in some rain late tomorrow and then change over likely to some snow by tomorrow night. so folks that are dealing with cleanup here really need to act pretty quickly to try and salvage anything that's really important to them in the next few days, and we do want to mention that some of this will be snowfall, and this is one computer model forecast bringing it over some of those areas in illinois, indiana, as well as into kentucky. so a weak system, don, but certainly having an impact for those people dealing with temperatures below freezing again. >> thank you very much. in an instant this week's

tornadoes destroyed homes and turned lives upside-down. here's what living through a tornado is like in survivors' own words. >> everywhere you look there's just a story like this. a bus into a building. a mobile home completely flattened. just major damage everywhere in this area. >> everything was beating around our heads, but thank god we made it. >> i looked up, and i was talking to my daughter across the street. i looked up, and i seen debris everywhere. next thing i knew, i was like i thought it was a dream. >> be careful, guys. >> okay. >> there's gas leaks, the houses are all completely demolished back there. completely to the ground. >> the building shook. the lights went off. the noise was incredible. it went right in front of us. >> we've got a storm here. golf ball-sized hail.

i can't honestly tell you what's going on. >> it was just like you were on a weighing scale this way, and it just kept going like this. the next thing i know, i'm pushing tables, refrigerators, freezers, whatever i want on me off of he me. >> it just seemed like the house was just lifted up, and then just dropped. the roof fell in, and the glass was everyplace. while i was on the table, i said, lord, make this pass. and it did. >> i'm don lemon i'm at the cnn headquarters in atlanta. i'll see you back here tomorrow night 6:00, 7, and 10:00.m